Bloody Disgrace

Caroline first began reporting on the contaminated blood scandal as a 21-year-old trainee reporter in Birmingham in 2001. Her first brush with the story came when she answered a “ring in” from Mick Mason, a 34-year-old haemophiliac, who had been infected with hepatitis B and C and HIV after receiving blood products via the NHS. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he had recently received the devastating news that he may also have been infected with vCJD after receiving blood from a donor who later died of the human form of mad cow disease. It was such a nightmarish story, Caroline initially thought Mason was a conspiracy theorist. But every word of it turned out to be true.

Her knowledge of the appalling scandal ignited a 23-year crusade for justice, which Caroline took with her to every newspaper she has joined. This culminated this year with her devising and leading a high-profile multi-media campaign in The Sunday Times in the run up to the publication of the public inquiry’s report into the scandal. The “Bloody Disgrace” campaign called for a full and fair settlement for the victims of the tragedy paid by a judge-led independent body, including for the parents of children that died and who never received a penny. It won the support of more than 250 MPs and peers, as well as former prime minister Boris Johnson, ex-Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies and the daughter of the late Body Shop founder, Dame Anita Roddick, who was one of thousands of victims to lose their lives.

During the course of the campaign, Caroline revealed details of how children were experimented on by doctors without their consent, infecting them with deadly diseases, including HIV and hepatitis. She was also the first journalist to reveal the full tragedy of Treloar’s, the school for disabled children in Hampshire, where almost 90 former pupils died after receiving contaminated blood. The public pressure that Caroline’s campaign exerted on the government forced ministers to spend more than £10bn on a compensation package - a decision which wiped out Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s ability to deliver further tax cuts and ultimately led to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to hold an early general election.

On the eve of the inquiry’s findings, Caroline landed an emotional interview with Hunt, who revealed that he would honour a promise to a dying friend, Mike Dorricott, by finally delivering justice for the victims. Sir Keir Starmer also wrote for The Sunday Times, backing his decision to make billions available for the payouts - meaning that the victims had secured the support of both main parties. Caroline watched Prime Minister Rishi Sunak apologise to the victims from the public gallery with Mason, the “ring in” from all those years ago.

Caroline’s work, which was instrumental in bringing about the public inquiry in 2017, also won plaudits from across the House of Commons and concluded with a live press conference broadcast on the BBC on the afternoon of the public inquiry’s findings.